CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the study
A review of the history of mankind on earth, we find out that each century has witnessed different transformations. In accordance, there has been a fresh emphasis and a tremendous change in educational processes (Mangal, 2001). Education is an activity, which arranges the character and behaviour of a person from a instinctive human behavior (Taneja, 2003). This definition of education reveals the clear truth that education aims at discovering aptitudes as well as to progressively prepare student for social and other activities; due to this definition, education through which the basic needs of man (food, shelter and clothing) are attended to is necessary for the survival of the society. Clearly, the performance is how well or badly something is to be done. Its importance stand out because of the vital role it holds to the educational sector and the society. In the educational parlance, performance manifests through academic achievement, which is the manifestation of a student’s habit of study and they in turn are formed and strengthened through education. The development of good study habits is helpful not just in academic work but in career actualization of students. And because this significant importance cannot be overlooked, the academic achievement and reading habit of the student to a large extent culminates into shaping an individual destiny. The general belief is that students who exercise good study habits are likely to excel than those with poor study habits. According to Sharma (2005)” academic performance is a necessary evil because one kind of ability is rewarded economically and socially more than others.” This necessitates concern over factors that are commonly linked with academic achievement. There is tremendous pressure and importance on students to earn good grades because academic achievement is assumed to possess predictive value and used to break the gate or to open the relationship between the primary, secondary schools and university, and also between the university and certain social professions (Sharma, 2005). Parents expect that their children climb the ladder of performance to the highest level as much as possible. The desire puts a lot of pressure on students, teachers, schools and the entire education system in general, making it to revolve around the academic achievement of students. The importance of academic achievement has raised several queries among educational researchers, such as why does one student perform better than another academically? Unfortunately, “explanations provided however correct they may be, in their own way, have placed a lopsided view of the problem and merely scratched its surface” (Dashpande, 1984, p.6).” In search for an answer to the queries, a number of attempts have been made by researchers to identify factors which influence academic achievement. Badhiri (1991)’ investigation into the causes of low achievement in government high schools in Chenglapattu Educational District, Tamil Nadu showed that the causes of poor performance were low motivation, policy of liberal promotion to the next class, poor study habits and lack of parental involvement in education. It could be stated that the variables that influence academic achievement of students by and large fall in the following four categories highlighted as: Student-related, Teacher-related, Home-relate and School-related: a. Student-related: intelligence, anxiety, interest, achievement motivation, aptitude, emotional stability, study habits and language ability.
b. Teacher-related: teaching skills, method of teaching, personality and behavior, classroom interaction, teaching experience, teacher motivation, home work and reinforcement.
c. Home-related: socio-economic status, home environment, religion, birth order, family size and cultural influence.
d. School-related: school climate, medium of instruction, type and location of school. This study addressed the increasing importance of the student’s academic achievement measured by the test scores, through examining study habits of students in its relation. So a question arises in mind whether this factor is related to academic achievement or not? This was an effort to search for the relation. Little study has been done looking at the learning habits of students at any level of the education system especially in Asia, much which is directed to mainly the western countries. Sawar et al. (2009, p.204) acknowledge the fact that, “since we live in the information age, this fact clearly makes new demand on the educational system, requiring radical changes on „what’ and „how’ pupils learn and why students are not doing as per expectations.” It is important to have a clear understanding of what benefits or hinders one’s educational achievement. This is the premise on which this study is justified. Statement of problem Achievement is the end-product of all educational endeavors. The main concern of all educational efforts is to see that the learner achieves. The distressing phenomena: scholastic underachievement and failure have caused serious concern to educationists, guidance counselors and educational planners for several decades as this amount to colossal wastage of resources available for education. “This necessitates serious probe into the causes that underlie and factors that lead to underachievement and failure, so that means could be devised to grapple with this enormous problem (Mishra and Danga 2005).
1.2. Statement of the general problem
The problem most students have that contributes to their poor performance in tests and examinations is lack of proper reading habits. For an excellent performance, there is the need for the student to form good reading and study habits. At present, due to the influence of the mass media, people do not show much interest in reading books; magazines and journals, among others (Palani, 2012). Even the cankerworm of examination malpractices may be traceable to the prevalent poor reading interests and habits among the wide spectrum of students. In addition, the by-products of scientific and technological inventions and innovations have also contributed greatly to the dwindling fortunes of the good practice of reading among majority of the students. Today, many students prefer to watch movies and other shows on the television, listening to audio-CDs, watching video-CDs, among others (Issa, 2012). Many parents and teachers complain about students of our generation who have not developed reading habits among themselves. Officials of the West African Examinations Council and teachers of English complain of the kind of English written by today’s generation of students (WAEC, 2008). The net result is the poor performance of many students in final examinations. One of the many issues confronting students nowadays is perhaps, not their inability to read but their lack of interest. From the assertion above, the work was conducted to examine the reading habits among students and the effects on their academic performance in tertiary institutions, specifically among secondary schools in Lgaos state.
1.3. Objectives of study
The objectives of the study were as follows.
a. To determine the level of students reading habit in secondary schools.
b. To determine the importance of education in Nigeria.
c. To find out the significant effect of students reading habits and their academic performance in external examinations.
d. to find out the relationship between students reading habit and their academic performance in external examination.
e. To know the importance of employing experience and qualified teachers to facilitate meaning learning by students
1.4. Research hypotheses
H0: There is no significant effect of students reading habit on their academic performance in external examination.
H1: There is significant effect of students reading habit on their academic performance in external examination.
H0: There is no significant relationship between students reading habit and their academic performance in external examinations.
H1: There is significant relationship between students reading habit and their academic performance in external examinations.
1.5. Significance of the Study
The problem investigated was to explore the relationship between student reading habits on their academic performance in external examination. The findings may help the teachers, management, parents of students, in order to understand the importance of the study habits for the academic success. The findings of this study may also be helpful to the students who are facing difficulties due to non-serious study habits they may learn various effective study skills for the academic achievement. Moreover, the findings of this study may help the students to overcome the academic problems.
1.6. Scope of the study
The study is restricted to the investigation of reading habits of students on their academic performance in external examinations using selected secondary schools in surulere LGA of Lagos state.
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